My Life Verse

03/04/2011 By 3 Comments

A few amazing ladies have created a new blog that truly speaks to me. Anya, Beth, Julie and Katie have come together to create Testify – “where blogging and testimony meet at the cross.” So far, each post they have written has really moved me and I am sure that they will continue to do just that.

Today, they posed a question to their readers and asked for us to write a blog post about our life verse - That one verse in the Bible that truly holds our heart and keeps us going each and every day. My “life verse” is one that was the central focus of the series being taught at my church the very first time I attended and the reason I stayed and flourished in that church. Here it is:

For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.

~2 Timothy 1:7

Each time I read that verse, I am moved. I am reminded that God didn’t place doubt in our hearts – that was someone entirely different. God gave me the greatest gift of all – Love and it’s up to me to be brave enough to use it. It’s up to me to love people with the fire of my soul and to not be afraid of being hurt or embarrassed or ridiculed.

It’s just up to me to harness that power, love and self-discipline and use to further God’s work and not my own agenda.

What is your life verse?

Testify

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Am I “serving” or “working”?

03/02/2011 By 22 Comments

During Velocity, I attended a workshop given by Amy Leigh Bamberg wherein she discussed how to build a dynamic Dream Team (because “volunteer” is a dirty word) within your church. During that workshop, she spoke about placing our volunteers in areas because of the church’s needs rather than that particular person’s spiritual gifts. It got me thinking….where do I really belong in our church?

First off, let me tell you what I do in our church right now. My husband and I are charged with connecting anyone interested to a Life Group (our version of small groups) as well as host team members. Basically, if you come in the door of Eagle Pointe Church on a Sunday evening, you will see one (or both) of us greeting you at the door. I am also a Service Coordinator for our Children’s Ministry. That means that I am responsible for making sure each class has everything they need and that they have people in there with the kids (always important).

We get to the church by 8:45 am and we stay until 12:30 pm each Sunday. This means my kids are in childcare for about 4 hours each and every Sunday morning (on top of the 10 hours a day they spend in daycare throughout the week).

We also host a Life Group in our home every Monday night where our group gathers for food and fellowship. That means rushing home after work on Mondays so the hubby can cook up a good dish while I clean up the house and make it guest-ready.

I’m not complaining at all. I love being helpful and I enjoy nearly every single person at our church. However, I do not feel that I have found my “calling” within the church. My Spiritual Gifts Analysis says that I am most gifted in Administration and Pastor/Shepherd. And to an extent, I agree with that. I am excellent at organizing paperwork and making sure everything is ready and waiting for people when they need it. I’m not sure about the “pastor/shepherd” part, but I want to be good at that. I just have to come out my shyness shell first to make it work.

Photo by Dominic Alves | FlickrAll of that to say that I am still searching for my right place within the church. I wish I could just work at the church full-time and be an office manager of sorts, but they already have that and she’s so terribly good at what she does that there’s no need for anyone else. I do know that I am not entirely where I need to be. Children’s ministry is not a place where I feel like I am truly serving – I feel more like I’m just kind of there because that’s where I’m needed, but it’s not where I am meant to be.

So, I’ve come to no real conclusions nor have I given any options of where I could go and do, but that’s because I HAVE NO IDEA. My hubby and I are having lunch with the pastor tomorrow – Maybe that will help me find some direction.

Where do you serve in your church? How did you find your “calling” within the church?

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I didn’t expect to get blown away…

02/22/2011 By 10 Comments

But I was absolutely, without-a-doubt blown away this week. And it’s only Tuesday. I feel like I’ve had at least a week’s worth of information thrown at me, but it’s only been two days. Monday and Tuesday were spent at Velocity 2011 with my fellow church leaders and our pastors.

Velocity is actually a conference intended for church planters (those who have  a heart for growing new churches throughout the world) and pastors. This was not a conference aimed at me. But, let me tell you – It hit me. Hard. People, this conference and the amazing speakers there rocked my world. They shook me to my very core. They asked hard questions and gave amazing insight. Many of the lessons taught were universal no matter where you are in the church.

First, I got hit by Darrin Patrick when he spoke about the Fruit of the Spirit and I was forced to ask myself – “Am I winning the war of Spirit vs. Flesh?” Sadly, the answer was a resounding NO. I’ve got to work on that with myself before I can be the best leader I can possibly be within my church.

Then, I got a gut check from Matt Carter. This man has a passion for Christ that is tangible. You could practically see the excitement coming out of his pores and that alone spoke to me. Then, he blew me away with Philippians 3:7.

But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ.

Wow. That particular passage has confused me for a long time. It still confuses me, to be honest. Sure, I understand what it’s saying. But, is it really a loss? Am I strong enough to give up whatever it takes to know Jesus? Right now, I can honestly say that I’m not strong enough. I still hold too much value on the stuff in life. That’s another thing that I’m going to have to work on with myself.

There were so many other people that spoke that touched me deeply: Scott Williams (“It’s not a black church or a white church – IT’S GOD’S CHURCH!”), Jenni Catron (“The church’s next great crisis: Engagement of today’s young women in the church.”), Amy Leigh Bamberg (“The church exists to Exalt God, Edify each other and Evangelize!”), JD Greear (“2.6 billion people have never heard the gospel. These are people God longs for!”). There are so many more, but I would only sit here and quote each and every one of them and I think you get the idea. All of the speakers? Amazing.

Now, all of that being said…there are a few changes that I need to make in my life. Currently, I seem to have my priorities all sorts of messed up. This blog has become too much of a priority for me and it’s taking up time that should be devoted to other things. I’m not saying that I’m going to shut this blog down. Not even close. Rather, I’m going to shift the focus quite a bit. There are a few things on this blog that force me to post to uphold agreements with sponsors or companies rather than being able to spend time elsewhere and that’s not going to continue. I am going to fulfill all current agreements with sponsors and advertisers. However, I will no longer be accepting any advertisements, reviews or giveaways. I have removed my “Blogher’11” page because there are more important things to spend my time and money on than a blogging conference right now. Instead, I’m looking hard-core into getting myself and my husband to Catalyst in October. That’s growth that I can justify in the eyes of the Lord.

If you are subscribed to this blog because you want to enter giveaways, it won’t hurt my feelings if you unsubscribe. There will be no more giveaways posted on this blog.

Shawn Lovejoy said it perfectly today (and I can’t quote him because I was too stricken to actually write it down) – It’s not about how many Twitter followers you get. It’s about how many Christ followers you get. I am still absolutely sure he was speaking directly to me. I have focused on how many followers, subscribers, fans or likes I had and spent more time trying to build those numbers up. But, why was I doing that? What am I going to do with those people once I have them following me? I have no idea. That’s something I need to work on with myself.

So, here’s the bottom line: This blog is now an outlet for my spiritual journey. That may include thoughts on the Bible. It may include stories about my family because, after all, nobody influences me more than those I live with. These changes may or may not be drastic. I don’t know exactly what form it might take, but I do know what form it won’t take and that’s a start.

As for right now, I bought way too many books from Velocity, so I’ve got some reading to do.

Until next time….

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